Who am I

Who am I??

     Hello my name is Shandy Ann Gledhill.  It is my married name.  My maiden name is Shandy Ann Galbraith.  I have been divorced for eight years now.  Due to circumstance I never switched it back.  That circumstance has recently ended and I have started to pursue the switch.  I never really cared these past years; my married name seemed more like my name.  I met my ex-husband when I was 14 years old.  I started dating him when I was 16 years old, we were engaged when I was 19 years old, and married by 20.  For no particular reason, recently I’ve been thinking I would really like to change it back.  My given name “Shandy” is the title of a Kris Kristopherson song from the 1970’s.  I have since learned that it is also the name of a beverage from Europe that is equal parts beer and lemonade, or versions thereof.  The first time I drank one I thought it was marvelous.  The few times I had it after that I thought it was barely drinkable.  English is my first language.  I have tried to learn Spanish, French, Hebrew, Italian, and most recent American Sign Language.  ASL is the only language I have kept at, and am actively pursuing.

     I was born in Corona, California, as the second and last child for my parents.  My mother was 21 years old, and my father was 25 years old.  They had my sister when they were 16, and 20 years old.  I grew up in the inner city of Riverside, California.  I lived in the same house till I was 18.  Across the street was a liquor store.  The store was robed constantly.  There was a lot of gang activity in the neighborhood, and helicopters continuously circled above with search lights.  I grew up around a lot of violence and fear, where the best thing was to yell “fire” instead of “help”.  As a way to cope my parents enrolled my sister and I in schools out of our living district that they felt were safer.  My father planted every Christmas tree we had in the front yard, which created a barrier from the street.  It kind of blocked things out.  When I left home I joined the California Conservation Corps with my ex-husband, and my best friend.  We moved to Klamath, California. I built and maintained trail systems in the Redwood National Forrest for a few years.  I have since traveled, and lived across most of the United States.  I currently live in Grass Valley, California.  I have been here since 2006.  I have been attending Sierra College fall of 2006 as mostly a full time student.  I received an AA degree in Environmental Horticulture in 2010.  I decided to pursue my love of teaching and am working on an Early Childhood Education permit.  I will be transferring this fall to Humboldt State University.

     I am Caucasian, although I dislike answering this question on paper work.  I often think this question is irrelevant and often associated with statics in a negative way.  I know this isn’t always the case.  Sometimes the question generates more revenue in a program that really needs.  In a class such as this I see its relevance.  I come from families of farmers, and ranchers.  My Father’s side came to America from Ireland.  They migrated west and settled in Nebraska.  My family still farms the same land that my grandfather’s grandfather settled.  My grandparents moved to California when my father was 4 years old.  My mother’s side of the family has been in California since the gold rush.  They migrated to Southern California, and lived on small ranches.  My family has a long tradition where women are the home maker’s, and men are the bread winners.  My parents broke that tradition by both working in order to raise their family. 

     There are several things that are important to me.  My top 5 are my family, my 2 dogs, education, friendships, and keeping a positive outlook.  I don’t see my family much.  It’s been that way since I left home.  We talk a lot on the phone.  I cherish what we have.  My dogs are my family.  Education is and has always been fascinating.  Friendships that are meaning full, beneficial, and last require reciprocity.  I think that is a beautiful thing.  I enjoy my days more when my outlook reflects a smile.

     I think that when working with children the most important things teachers can do is provide an emotionally, and physically stable environment both inside and outside that is stable, developmentally challenging, consistent, healthy, fun, and full of compassion, while at the same time viewing the classroom as a community that is governed by variations of democracy, by the people, for the people, and of the people. 

     I view myself as a beautiful work in progress.  I have struggled through many dramatic moments across large spans of time to finally be comfortable and appreciate my thoughts, successes, failures, and future goals.  I am a single 33 year old woman.  I have no children.  I do have 2 dogs.  They are rescue dogs.  One is a 3 year old female named Effie.  The other is a 2 year old boy named Friday.  They are wonderfully good at being bad dogs.  The three of us make an interesting life together.  Friday isn’t very trusting, so only my close friends can come by for an immediate visit.  Other people I have to break in over a period of time.  I find this most inconvenient when a maintenance person needs to drop by. 

     I just finished working at my part time job in December.  My position was lead teacher in a small child development center.  The company was a rehabilitation facility for adolescence and adults that focused on recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.  My experience throughout life, plus what I learned in that job showed me that alcohol and drug abuse is a family disease.  What I mean is, it’s a disease that affects the whole family in many different ways.  Most of it I see as being unpleasant, sad, hurtful, and often devastating.  In this job what I found most important to curriculum was social and emotional behavior skills.  We focused on encouraging the children to identify their emotions.  Through identification we tried to help aid in tracing back to the cause.  Getting to the cause helped us practice problem solving skills.  We worked on letting the children feel their emotions, process them, and find ways to cope with similar challenges.  It was very difficult, but so rewarding. 

     I believe that learning more about culture and diversity during all ages helps promote a peaceful society.  When children grow up constantly exposed to people, and things different than their own family and culture a more compassionate society is produced.  When we are educated in diversity we tend to appreciate it, rather than fear it. 

     When I have spare time, I like to take my dogs for walks, or hikes.  I especially like going to the river.  I also like going to the gym for exercise.  Sometimes I like loading my dogs into the car, and going for a long drive with no destination.  I also like keeping a journal.  At times I write poetry.  I like reading books like “Harry Potter’, or “The Chronicles of Narnia”.  I really like to cook.  My favorite is baking, but I like making things from scratch, and growing my own food to do it.  I think Bob Dylan is one of the most influential people in music.  I do find something I like in almost all types of music I hear.  I tend to listen to the classical station when I drive around in my car.  It’s entertaining to me to have the windows rolled up, and all I can hear is the classical music playing some extravagant tune, while I weave my way around to the different places I encounter during the day.

     This I would say is a good start to who I am.